At first blush , I was a bit at sea when I saw Honor ’s freshly announced Watch 5 Ultra atMWC 2025 in Barcelona . In many ways , it bears a striking resemblance to theOnePlus Watch 3 , which is n’t a bad starting dot .
Fresh off survey the Watch 3 , which became my favored Wear OS smartwatch , I approached the Honor Watch 5 Ultra with a vital oculus . After an hour , I can reassert it ’s a beautiful wearable with one meaning downside that will block its market achiever .
Top tier design and materials
The front case of the 46 millimeter frame is immediately eye espial , with premium Ti that help this take care less like a piece of applied science and more like a legitimate horologe . The angulate , machined blueprint and large sizing thin towards a more masculine aesthetic .
That angular approach is a repetitive musical theme , first obtrusive on the Octagonal Dome that fence in the sapphire glass watch face on the front . The outer edge feature soft , straightened contrast , while the internal is circular , giving it a key signature feeling . Huawei took a interchangeable path to last year ’s Watch GT 5 stock - up , so apparently , it ’s a trend .
The angular casing connecting the 22 millimetre lookout band tot to the watch ’s box-shaped footprint , driving the point household that this is n’t for smaller wrists .
It gives the stamp that the spotter bands are pucker into those caparison arena .
The functional rotate summit on the side has a series of brusque spiky rows that grip the digit well in dividing line to the gentle tapered design of the OnePlus Watch 3 ’s crest that can sometimes slip in use .
Below the rotate peak is a flat customizable button for launch any number of actions on the watch . The side surface area of control condition has a very familiar look and function as the OnePlus Watch 3 .
Underneath is a sensor pod with a received array of health - come to sensor . That ’s also where the wireless charging is managed , though I did n’t get a hazard to examine that out at all .
The 1.5 - inch AMOLED display , protect by lazuline chalk , is bright , shrill , and colorful with a 60Hz refresh charge per unit and an Always On option . My eyes quickly spotted a bezel break up the display from the framing , but it ’s not distracting . The Watch 5 Ultra is also water and debris protected with a 5ATM / IP68 rating .
While I did n’t have it long enough to begin to put the 480mAh battery to any sort of unbending trial , Honor claims the Watch 5 Ultra is capable of up to 15 days of assault and battery living with normal usage , accredit onboard AI for impactful efficiency gains . I might also credit a less robust operating system .
Custom OS growing pains
The Honor Watch 5 Ultra is running the party ’s own proprietary Honor OS which is responsive and organized in a pretty standard fashion .
Scrolling through the pre - installed apps show that Honor has sought to encompass most of the basics like a solid assortment of seaworthiness trailing activities , a Quick Health Scan , and a ambit , cause why not .
The quick configurations section search very familiar with a layout that closely cope with what ’s find on Wear osmium . If I did n’t know going in that this was a different OS when I first see it , I might not have question it at first .
What ’s amaze is why Honor did n’t seek to deepen its relationship with Google with this smartwatch and make this a true Wear OS flagship . The Honor Watch 5 Ultra fails to bid things many Android users have come to expect , including wide app compatibility and core Google service integration .
certain , the Honor Watch 5 Ultra connects with and works pretty seamlessly with Android and iOS devices likewise for universal things like notification triage and integration with the Honor app . But Honor ’s ecosystem is n’t enough to contend with what the Google looseness Store offer in the way of expanded functionality and third company watch boldness support .
A puzzling value proposition
At € 279 ( roughly $ 300 ) , Honor is n’t targeting a in particular price - raw audience . This is what make the watch a bit difficult to understand . With a Mary Leontyne Price and design that shows Honor stepping into a more “ Ultra ” section in article of clothing , the lack of comprehensive software keep at last diminishes the value proposition for the people who might be most potential to want to buy one in the first place .
I walked forth from my hands - on prison term puzzled about the future tense of this lookout , but bright that perhaps Honor will follow this one up with a on-key Wear oculus sinister competitor . That ’s something I could get very excited about .
Disclosure : award covered Jason Howell ’s traveling and accommodations for MWC 2025 , but the ship’s company had no influence over the editorial cognitive content .
